Minako Okukawa
Minako Okukawa (Japanese: 奥川 ミナコ, Okukawa Minako) is a former ballerina who currently teaches ballet at her studio in Hasetsu and the ballet teacher of Yuuri Katsuki. Background Minako is a Hasetsu native who was able to garner some amount of international fame for her skill in ballet, having traveled the world during her career as a dancer. She is one of the recipients of the Benois de la Danse, one of the ballet world's greatest honors. Minako has since settled down in Hasetsu and started up a ballet studio, where she teaches local students. Currently, Yuuri Katsuki is her only student, since in recent years fewer and fewer people have been coming to her for lessons due to Hasetsu's shrinking population. In addition to her ballet studio, Minako also owns and operates a snack bar called Kachu Snack Bar. Appearance Minako has medium length brown hair reaching past her shoulders with her bangs tied in a short ponytail, dark grey eyes and a single mole under her left eye. She is fairly tall, with long legs and the slim figure of a ballerina. She is usually seen wearing a brown trench coat over a blue-gray cardigan and a white blouse, with dark blue skinny jeans and brown ankle boots. Personality Minako is an energetic and outgoing person, often striking ballet poses whenever she gets enthusiastic about something. She insists on manners, discipline, and body management, though she also enjoys alcohol, which contradicts her emphasis on manners and causes her to be quite brash and loud. She tries to keep Yuuri Katsuki motivated as a skater because the number of youth in Hasetsu is declining, putting her job as a ballet teacher in peril. She is a big fan of figure skating and constantly expresses her attraction towards the male skaters while drunk, especially to Victor. She is also a big fan of Christophe Giacometti's, cheering for him when he performs and becoming flustered when noticed by him. Relationships Yuuri Katsuki Minako is a friend of the Katsuki family, and is particularly close with Yuuri, as his former ballet teacher and long-time supporter. She is the one who encouraged him to go into figure skating, and often accompanies him on late-night practice sessions either at her studio or at Ice Castle Hasetsu.Yuri!!! on Ice ''Episode 2 Aside from the Rostelecom Cup, she goes to almost all of Yuuri's competitions so she can support him, though she also goes due to being a skating fan. Hiroko Katsuki Minako and Hiroko are old friends, with Minako being on a first-name basis with Hiroko and often visiting Yu-topia. Hiroko refers to Minako with the "-senpai" honorific since the two of them went to school together at some point and Minako is older. Mari Katsuki Minako gets along well with Mari, whom she refers to as "Mari-chan". They travel together to Barcelona so they can see the Grand Prix Final live. Axel, Lutz, and Loop Nishigori Minako and the triplets are seen to have a decently close relationship, planning "Hot Springs on Ice" together and celebrating in dance when putting up posters. She sits with them in the stands during the event. Quotes * "''Toshiya-san! It's no laughing matter! This is not the weight a figure skater should have!"Yuri!!! on Ice Episode 1 (To Toshiya Katsuki) * "Yuuri was able to grow because he had a place where he could practice alone whenever he got anxious. He's no genius, but he was gifted with more free time than anyone else to practice." (to Victor Nikiforov) * "I pulled an all-nighter to help Yuuri practice, and he's no ordinary pork cutlet bowl."Yuri!!! on Ice Episode 3 (to herself) * "Yuuri, you are known for your step-sequences and spins."'' (to herself) * ''"I've never seen you wearing that ring before."Yuri!!! on Ice Episode 10 (to Yuuri Katsuki) * "He's changed since Yurio taught him how to do the Salchow." ''(about Yuuri) Trivia *The given name "Minako" can have a number of meanings depending on the kanji being used. However, since Minako's name is written in katakana, it has no inherent meaning. *Minako's surname '''Okukawa '''means "interior, secluded, further out" (奥) ('oku') and "river" (川) ('kawa'). **Minako's surname '''Okukawa' (奥川) would normally be romanized as Okugawa. However, as she is from Kyushu, the correct romanization of 奥川 is Okukawa. *Minako's Instagram is minako-okukawa.Yuri!!! on Ice Episode 11 *Minako's official age has not been revealed, but it has been confirmed that Hiroko Katsuki is younger than her.Yuri!!! on Ice Blu-ray Vol. 2 Booklet Since Hiroko is 49 years old, this would mean that Minako is at least 50. References Category:Characters Category:Supporting Characters Category:Female Characters Category:Asia Category:Japan